The Most Expensive Painting In The World

The Most Expensive Painting in the World

Imagine you have inherited, or been gifted, the most expensive painting in the world and find out that it is not only very valuable but also very large!

This was the starting point of a sermon that I heard whilst staying with friends over the summer.
It challenged me but also inspired me.
I would like to share the gist of it with you.
I have google’d the most expensive painting in the world and we are talking several hundred million USD.
(It wasn’t the most beautiful of paintings either, but don’t tell on me!)
The preacher speculated on the various issues and practicalities involved in taking possession of this painting, or in my case a more beautiful one!
Imagine before receiving it walking around the house to see where it might go.
Not realising yet that despite being told it was very large, you have seriously under estimated the size and sheer presence of it.
The dismay you might feel on becoming aware that it was not going to fit in the gap between the chimney breast and the television which was the only free space you had left.
Even more of a dilemma, it was not going to fit on the long wall over the sofa where you thought you might be able to squeeze it if you took down the mirror and family photos on display there.
The idea that you would then just give up, put it out for the bin men or take it to the charity shop seemed unlikely but the challenge was now whether you were prepared to move all the furniture round in your home to accommodate it? Change the colour scheme?
Invest in a picture light to hang over the top of it to show it off in its best light?
Move house even so that there would be somewhere suitable for the most precious thing you were ever likely to own to be displayed?

So comes the challenge of what we do to accommodate the gift of the reign of Jesus in our lives.
If we acknowledge that He is precious then it is crazy that we try to fit Him around all the existing clutter in our lives.
Surely we need to find out first and foremost where He needs to be placed and then deal with everything that prevents this from being possible.
We will not mind the necessity to sacrifice our possessions or even where we choose to live in order that He takes His rightful place in our lives.

Let us take another look at how beautiful and special He is and make sure we are not disregarding His value to us by relegating Him to a convenient space in our hearts and life.